Submitted by
richard cohen
a Cross Country Rider
from sf bay area Date Reviewed: March 21, 2005
Favorite Trail:
china camp
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
direct from ibex
Strengths:
this is a follow up to last year's initial review. we ended up working out a deal with ibex so that my son rode one of their hardtails last year--and loved it--until he was big enough for the cobia. he kept asking me as the year went by, and about a month ago i finally took it out of wraps and saddled him up. he's barely big enough for it but i cut about 1-1.5 inches out of the seatpost and he's been good to go. he loves the bike--it gives him the feel of a fs bike which he needs as he progresses onto harder terrain. the build still looks good with the only issues being a rather poor state of tune out of the box and an ongoing rear disk brake rubbing. i've tweaked the gears to be fine and am still working the rear brake--nothing worse than a lot of adult bikes...overall the bike looks great, rides well and seems pretty well built. my son should be able to get 2-3 seasons on the cobia which is fantastic. oh, as an aside we sold the hardtail (alpine 440k) in a couple of days.
Weaknesses:
initial state of tune. ongoing minor adjustments to disk brakes.
Similar Products Used:
ibex alpine 440k (another fine product, highly recommended) fuji 20" fs bike
Bike Setup:
stock, shimano components with mech disk brakes
Bottom Line:
great bike, great value, great company. well worth the $$ if you want your kids to have a 'real' bike. i may look into ibex for adult bikes if my wife ever needs one....
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
richard cohen
a Weekend Warrior
from bay area, california Date Reviewed: April 16, 2004
Favorite Trail:
china camp
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
direct from ibex
Strengths:
great value--good components, looks like nice build, so far excellent customer service, attractive design. seems reasonably light for a bike in this price category.
Weaknesses:
none so far-except for size (see below)
Similar Products Used:
fuji, mongoose
Bike Setup:
stock--shimano components, mech disk brakes, etc.
Bottom Line:
we just got the bike yesterday, it was well packed and easy to assemble. had a couple of minor questions, called the company and received excellent customer service.
i would highly recommend this bike (and the company) to kids that are into mountain biking with one caveat:
this is a large 24 inch bike with a high standover. it is too big for my 9 year old son so the bike (we're both very disappointed) will have to sit in the garage until he grows into it. i don't think it fits many 9 year olds (the marketing stuff says it's for 9-13 year olds), probably more for 11-14 year olds unless your kids are huge.
i won't discount the ratings because of the size issue (more my fault for not checking before purchase-my daughters will use the bike a little in the meantime), just want to point it out to parents thinking of this bike...other than size i'd say without hesitation go for it..
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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